06-14-05
BURRIS CIRCLE TOUR TWIN 50’S
Lake Geneva, Wisconsin — The Jr. 3 Lite class started close and ended closer in the longest race on the Burris Circle Tour – the Midwest’s premier Speedway Oval Kart Racing Series. The Burris Twin 50’s, showcases the Jr. 3 Lites in the first leg and the Sr. Lites in the second leg. The features were lined up by the qualifying speeds with Andy Jones earning the top spot in Jr. 3 with a 20.860 – or 56 mph.
Everyone expected a long race with action only in the last few laps, but were treated with an exemplary display of close driving, grit and perseverance. Jones, Damien Jenks and Matthew Hottinger ran side by side and nose to tail for the first 20 laps. Then Jenks took over the lead before Jones fought back and regained the top spot in lap 22 and again in lap 44. Jenks once again made a great pass to take the lead in lap 44. Jones, never more than a few feet away set up for the final turn and coming down the final stretch, the racers were side by side. At the end, Jones pushed his machine with everything it had and edged just ahead of Jenks at the stripe. Aaron Katzenberg repeated as Burris Twin 50’s champion in the Burris Circle Tour on June 12, 2005.
In 2004, he won the Jr. 3 Leg and made it a double winning this year as a Senior Lite. Aaron, a local favorite and fast qualifier, took advantage of the pole position jumping out to a ¼ lap lead on the rest of the field. The rest of the field took about 20 laps to form into drafting partners and start chasing down the red 87 – visible only in the distance. Nick Chiapetta, last years BCT champion paired up with Tommy Jones. Jeff Everts, 5 year veteran of this race, started from deep in the field. Everts took his time and worked his way to the second group where he found a willing drafting partner in Zach Axlen. Lap after lap, the pairs started narrowing the gap on the lead. Then, with 30 laps down and just a few kart lengths separating the top 5, Everts made a slick pass by Chiapetta and slid in behind Jones. Then, before the lap was over, Everts made the inside move dragging Chiapetta and Jones along for the ride. Katzenberg was hung out in 4th place.
Everts led the next 8 laps while Katzenberg was regrouping and making another run toward the front. Then suddenly, on the backstretch, a tire was in the center of the track, bouncing wildly through the field and bringing out the yellow flag. Everts, now driving his 3-wheeler, took advantage of his dirt experience sliding his kart to a safe stop, setting up a 10-lap shootout.
On the restart, first it was Chiapetta in the lead, then Katzenberg, then Jones making a run to the inside. Coming out of the final corner, Katzenberg drove a wide line crossing just ahead of Chiapetta and Jones. After almost 17 miles of racing, Katzenberg ran his victory lap and burned some rubber in a well deserved celebration.
Other racing action was just as close as Sean Clavey and Mike Nitti both won their first feature races on the Tour. Clavey, always near the front of the Jr. Sportsman Champs, sealed the deal in a win over Elliott Pritchett by less an 1/10th of a second. Nitti won the Sr. Champ Feature. The F200 battle is heating up. Today, Chris Lishamer brought out his new Kohler motor and won the first heat race in convincing fashion. Rob Blake, not to be outdone, won the second heat and posted the fastest lap in the race at 18.996 - . Then in the feature, the racers were dead even coming to the finish and Lishamer crossed first – by 6/100ths of a second.
Feature winners in other classes were Mike Flores – Jr. 2 Lite, Dave Terrafino – Sr. Sportsman, Asheley Heronimus – F200 Jr. 3, Mackenzie Piller – Champ F200 Jr. 2, Corey Domenick – Champ F200 Jr. 3, Brad Plunket – 2 Cycle Sportsman Lite, Zaida Clevenger – Kid Karts, and Mavrick Piller – Kid Kart Champ Karts .
The Burris Circle Tour returns to Lake Geneva Raceway, June 19th where the High Revs: Kid Karts and 2 cycles are the featured classes. Then July 2nd and 3rd, the BCT returns to Durand, Illinois for the Durand Bulldog Sprints – a race around the town square.
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